Chapter 1: The New Kid

"Hey kiddo, wake up! You're gonna be late!" A teenage girl rolled over in her messy bed.

"Like that's new," she grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her half-open eyes.

"You're twenty minutes late so far," said the squeaky voice. The voice happened to be coming from a little yellow bear with white wings who was sitting on her wooden dresser.

"Oh my goodness!" the girl cried, and she immediately ran out of her room.

"After all that we've been through, you would think that waking up on time would be a piece of cake…" said the yellow bear. "Actually, I could go for a piece of cake right now," he said.

He hovered out of the doorway only to get run into by the girl who was frantically brushing her teeth and trying to put on a sock at the same time. He crashed down onto the white carpet, barely noticed by the brown haired girl.

Dizzy, the bear tried to stand up but ended up just wobbling onto the ground.

"Ah, Sakura left another stuffed animal out in the hallway," came a soft voice from behind the bear. This voice had come from a tall sandy haired man with glasses. He was wearing a brown suit and of course was smiling kindly at the toy. He scooped it up while talking to himself.

"I can't help but feel sorry for you guys," said the man. "Actually…There seems to be something special about you…" The bear, Kero, tried his best to stay stiff as he was placed upon the girl's bed.

"OW!" came a sudden yell from the staircase.

"Uh oh," the man said as he ran out of the room and down the hallway. "Sakura, are you okay?" he asked the girl who was lying at the bottom of the staircase.

"I'm fine, Dad," she said to the man while standing up. "Anyway, I don't have time for breakfast." She said hurriedly.

"Well I hope you have time for lunch. Don't forget to grab your lunchbox on the way out," said her father, Fujitaka. The girl, Sakura, nodded, grabbed her lunchbox, and ran out the door.

"Oh no…" Sakura moaned as soon as she walked around the corner of the house. She normally rode her bike to her middle school, but she had crashed into a tree while she looking away the day before. Now the bike was mangled. It would take her twice as long to get to school without it.

"Need a ride?" Sakura looked to her left to see Yukito, her brother's best friend with his bike by his side. He was very tall with white hair and glasses withlight browneyes. Instead of wearing his normal school uniform, he was wearing a green t-shirt with green shorts; his gym uniform.

"Yes!" Sakura said, her eyes brightening. "Thanks, Yuki!" she said as she hopped onto the back of his bike. As he peddled her along to school, she felt completely care free. Before, she had a tremendous crush on Yukito, but now they were just friends.

Looking around at all the pink petals on the trees seemed to pass the time by, and before Sakura knew it, she was at school.

"I'll see you later, Sakura," Yukito said, and he walked his bike towards his high school (which was conveniently next door to Sakura's school). Suddenly, the bell rang, humming its usual tune, and Sakura quickly ran up the steps into her school.

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The same bell rang again, signaling the end of school some hours later. Sakura was standing in the schoolyard with a friend.

"Oh dear…I think I just barely made it through English class today…" said Tomoyo, Sakura's best friend. Her long black hair was fluttering in the gentle wind, and her caring eyes were closed with frustration.

"It's much harder than seventh grade, isn't it?" asked Sakura.

"Well, at least we get nicer uniforms," Tomoyo said while looking down at her white skirt with a green trim. Their shirts also had nicer red bows and higher collars. It was very much like Tomoyo to notice something like that, as she designed outfits and costumes all the time.

"True," agreed Sakura.

There was a big project due the next week, so it didn't take long before everyone was out of the yard and Tomoyo and Sakura could speak alone. They talked a little bit about Sakura's boyfriend, Li Syoran, who was currently sick with the flu. Then they moved onto things a little more secretive.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Sakura asked. Tomoyo raised an eyebrow, not understanding. "Being able to live without magic. I mean, when it first happened, I thought it was too good to be true. But aside from Kero, Yue, and the Sakura Cards when I need them, everything seems to be normal again." Sakura was magical, and she had been collecting cards with magical creatures sealed within them. After a year, Sakura had finallycollected all of the magical cards and turned them into her own, with her own magic. It was finally all over.

"Yeah. I mean, there's no giant teddy bears or pits of sheep. There is one thing I miss, though." Sakura raised her eyebrow this time. "Video-taping your adventures in those outfits!" Tomoyo cried in despair, and Sakura fell over, quite blown away. With that, the two left the yard to work on their project.

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"And that concludes our presentation. Thank you." The class clapped, and Sakura and Tomoyo sat down.

"And now that we're done with all of our presentations," said the teacher, Mr. Terada, "I'd like to introduce all of you to a new student. Everyone, please welcome Mr. Hugh."

A boy in a red t-shirt and jeans walked into the room, looking down at the brown tiled floor. His hair was black, and he looked scrawny and short.

"He's all the way from North America, but he is Japanese, however. So it shouldn't be too hard to welcome him. Would you like to tell us some more about yourself?" Sakura couldn't help but look across at Syoran, who was watching the new student intently.

"My name is Warren," the boy at the front said. His voice was shockingly deep. "This seems like a nice school. I think I will like it here," He said, and with that, he took a seat at the back of the classroom.

Warren did not speak again for the rest of the morning. However, Sakura occasionally caught him looking at her. She would smile back, but he would look away, looking flustered.

"I think Warren likes you," said one of Sakura's friends, Chiharu. She had light brown hair that was tied up in two pigtails and sparkling blue eyes. Chiharu had a mischievous look on her face. It was now lunchtime.

"Phwee? What makes you say that?" Sakura asked.

"I saw him staring at you," she said suggestively.

"Sorry. I don't mean to stare most of the time. It's just a habit of mine," came a deep voice from behind. Sakura turned around and saw Warren looking at them through icy blue eyes.

"Phwee!" Sakura shouted. Chiharu's mouth was just kind of hanging open.

"Excuse Chiharu, here. She doesn't know what she's saying half of the time," Naoko, another friend of Sakura's suddenly said.

"Is that so? She seems to be a lovely person, if only I could get to know her," Warren said, and Chiharu blushed. Tomoyo noticed that Chiharu's boyfriend, Yamazaki, was watching with a little bit of jealousy from afar.

"I guess I will speak to you ladies some other time. Good bye," And Warren walked away.

"If that wasn't weird, I don't know what was," Chiharu said. The others just nodded.

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"So what do you think of Warren, Syoran?" Tomoyo asked Syoran after school.Syoran had sandy brown hair, and fierce amber eyes. He was wearing his gym clothes, just like Tomoyo was. It was a plain white shirt with black shorts and running shoes.

"Not sure. I haven't gotten to really talk to him,"Syoran stated.

"Wasn't he on your team in basketball? He played just as well as you," commented Tomoyo.

"I guess he did. He seems to be quite the charmer though, huh? I overheard Yamazaki talking about how he thought Chiharu was a 'lovely person'."

"Hmm. Well, Sakura offered to show him around right about now," Syoran about had a heart attack at these words; he looked as if he had spit out a vile tasting beverage.

"Where!" he asked frantically.

"I'm not sure. Why, you're not jealous, are you? You know Sakura loves you," Tomoyo said.

"I trust Sakura. I'm just not sure about Warren,"Syoran said smoothly.

"PHWEE!" came a scream from around the corner. The scream has seemed to come on cue. It echoed around the whole school, as it was empty.

"SAKURA!"Syoran shouted, and he ran around the corner. Tomoyo followed close behind.Syoran skidded to a halt to see Sakura pinned against a chain link fence by Warren. He was holding her by arms so that she couldn't get away.

"You let go of her NOW!"Syoran roared as he ran over to them. While running past Warren, he slammed Warren right in the jaw, and Warren let go. Sakura grabbed her sore wrists and Tomoyo ran over to her to make sure that she was all right.

"You never touch her again."Syoran said while standing over Warren. Warren only moaned and grabbed his jaw.

"What happened?" Tomoyo asked Sakura.

"We were just walking and then…He just grabbed me and shoved me against the fence. It was all so sudden…" Tomoyo hugged Sakura.

"Oh yeah, Tomoyo. If you want to know about if I like Warren or not…"Syoran said, "the answer is no."

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"Thanks again, Li!" Sakura toldSyoran over the phone.

"Like I said, it was nothing, really."Syoran replied while blushing a little.

"I just wonder why he attacked me out of the blue like that…"

"Some guys are fakers I guess. Maybe he was a little too charming for it to be real."

"Could be true. He doesn't seem like a bad person, though. I don't sense anything from him." Syoran's end went quiet.

"Hey, you know about the picnic next week, right?" he asked randomly.

"Of course I'll go with you! Even better, it will be our two year anniversary!"

"That fast? …Wow…All right, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye!"